1. Field
Methods and apparatuses consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to acquiring fiber structure information of a nerve fiber in an object by using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, and more particularly, to acquiring fiber structure information of a nerve fiber in an object by setting a tracking start area and a tracking processing area for tracking an internal structure of the object, and determining the similarity between pieces of image information of voxels in the respective corresponding areas.
2. Description of the Related Art
MRI is a technique of acquiring an image of an object by disposing the object in an area where a magnetic field is generated, generating radio frequency pulses to make protons in the object resonate in order to measure a difference between signals coming out of tissue or the like included in the object, and reconstructing an image of the object via a computer.
MRI provides images of high resolution and good contrast, compared with other imaging techniques, and enables providing deep organ images and three-dimensional (3D) information. Moreover, MRI is harmless to humans because there is no radiation exposure, and an axial image, a sagittal image, a coronal image, and the like may be obtained without changing the location of an object.
Nerve fibers of white matter contained in the human brain are used as biomarkers for pathological physiology research regarding schizophrenia, strokes, dementia, etc., and also play an important role in neuroanatomy and physiological research.
A great amount of research of tracking paths of nerve fibers of white matter has been conducted based on diffusion tensors which are obtained from the voxels of brain images in a non-invasive manner. In the research of tracking the paths of nerve fibers of white matter, it is important to reduce tracking time and minimize errors that may occur during the tracking.